I hate social get-togethers. In the past, I hated it entirely because it was a reminder of how ostracized I was. With my eyes, nobody wanted to talk to me, let alone invite me to wherever. I would overhear my classmates talk about how the party last Saturday was great, or how this guy and this girl got together during it.

A symbol of being an eternal outcast, I felt that it was. It was an idea that stuck with me from the very beginning.

As I grew older, and leaned more and more into my loner disposition, I started to hate it in a different way. No longer was not being invited a depressing thought. No longer did I wait and hope to finally get noticed. No, and it was all because I found a universal truth:

Spending time with other people in a social setting sucked ass.

"Don't. Touch. That."

I mean, how would you feel if someone waltzes into your house unannounced, dirty shoes staining your just-mopped floor? Or starts poking around as if they were in an art museum and they were three year olds?

It really, really fucking sucks.

"Hmph. At least have the decency to serve us tea."

"I don't have any."

And don't get me started on the food! Who the hell do you think you are, expecting free food?! I earned this dammit, if you wanted food, you should have brought some when you came over, or better yet, don't bother coming over in the first place!

"Yeah, Hikigaya doesn't do tea. He does have coffee though."

"I shall take that then."

"Coffee? Man, I could go for some as well!"

For fuck's sake. At least take your damn shoes off!

"Fine, here."

I reluctantly handed a few cups of my own coffee mix around. It wasn't MAX, but the coffee that this world has is surprisingly good. Of course, I still added a lot of sugar to it regardless.

I may not like people being in my house, but I'll be damned if they spread around that I was an asshole. Regardless of that being true, it would still be bad for business.

Even if the one that would be saying it was a silver-haired half-elf.

A racially-discriminated Royal Candidate, and a NEET that got isekai'd. Now that's a light novel pairing if I've ever seen one. Seriously, it was as if the tropes couldn't get even worse, then they shove a full-on maid right next to her.

I'd seen better plot setups in B-list harem anime than this!

"Mmm! This is really good!"

…Alright elf, my respect for you just went up a notch.

"Too sweet! What kind of incompetent moron adds this much sugar to coffee?!"

And my respect for you, maid, just went down into the sewers.

"If you don't like it, then don't drink it." I narrowed my eyes on the red-haired maid. She scoffed in response, before placing the coffee down and pushed it away. I snorted before grabbing it and pouring the contents into my own almost-empty cup.

She stared at me as her face scrunched up in disgust, "To think, you would do that just to take a sip of a liquid I myself have already drunk from. Pathetic creep."

"Better than wasting food." I snarked back. Her barbs were ineffective. Yukinoshita was harsher on her off days, rare as they were, "But I suppose that you wouldn't be able to get that, would you? Must be nice to never have to worry about food."

"Of course." She shamelessly barreled through the conversation, "A creepy ruffian such as yourself would never be able to compare to the graciousness of my master."

"UM!" The elf stood up as she looked between myself and her maid, "I-I'm Emilia, pleased to meet you!"

"Hmph. I suppose it's only proper to introduce myself as well." The maid nodded to Emilia, "Ram, maid to Magrave Roswaal L. Mathers."

I nodded to them, even as Felt and Rom startled at the introduction. Looks like these two weren't aware of who these two were. Thankfully, I already knew, so I wasn't as taken aback.

The half-elf being a part of the selection was an open secret among the city. It was inevitable, no matter how much the candidates weren't supposed to be known until all of them were introduced officially. Her appearance led to whispers of the second coming of the Witch of Envy.

The uptick in Witch Cult attacks, mabeast incursions, and the general chaos recently only heightened that.

It was unlikely that the girl had any chance of actually winning the selection. Which made perfect sense as to why Natsuki was eyeing her in barely disguised affection.

An underdog story if I've ever seen one.

Still, her appearance and the reaction of a significant population was not why I knew her. No, I knew of her for one, simple reason.

Roswaal L. Mathers.

To use magic in this world, mana had to be pushed through your gate, and through your body. The mana that gets pushed was dependent on the spell you intended to use. It was why having mastery over more than one element was such a big deal.

First, it meant that you had that mana flowing through your gate.

Second, you knew how to use it in conjunction with your other element to not kill yourself.

It was way harder than you would think.

Take for example, an earth mage. If an earth mage who was capable of also using fire magic were to do it wrong, as in, try to cast a fire spell while still casting another earth spell, the fire and earth mana would collide inside the body. Neither bit of mana would be able to go anywhere, and would most likely explode violently inside the person.

It wouldn't be a pretty affair for anyone within a five meter radius. I should know, it happened to me, though on a far less dangerous combination of yin and yang.

When I first learned of my abilities with the opposing elements, I thought to use them simultaneously. I hadn't known about the interfering mana, so I jumped straight to it. I can't even remember what spells I tried to use, but the end result was unforgettable.

I remember the two opposing manas interfering with each other. I remember the sheer amount of pain I felt as that mana escaped from every orifice it could. I remember the feeling of my bones feeling like they were liquid and my skin being hard as rock.

It was the same with my entire room. The internals of everything were softer than anything had any right to be, but their external parts were significantly more durable than anything else.

It was terrifying having to carefully drain all of the mana in me at the risk of having my heart collapse from lack of pressure.

Eventually, I learned how to use two, then three elements. I made virtual 'channels' that each bit of mana could travel through. Using three elements was still difficult though, as the focus required to keep the mana from 'leaking' was strenuous. Two was more than enough for me at any rate.

Same was the case for casting the spells themselves. While casting two or three spells was easy enough when you were using the same element, not a lot of mages did it. If the mana were akin to a pipe, then the spells would be the faucets. Having multiple spells at the same time would reduce the overall power of every spell.

Thus, unless you had a massive throughput of mana through your gate, casting spells one at a time was the best option. Of course, there were always exceptions.

Mathers was the exception to all exceptions, as he was capable of using all six elements, and six spells all at the same time. Something I thought virtually impossible, to the point I thought he was a fraud. His abilities themselves were well documented though, as his position as the Court Mage made sure his feats were public record.

There was a reason why he was given three titles. Red. Green. Yellow. Fire, wind and earth. Among all the mages that the country knew, a single man held the titles for the best in three of the six elements.

But, all of this, all of Mathers' achievements and feats, was not why I knew of him.

No, I knew him because I knew he had the biggest fuck-off library in the country.

"Subaru said that you helped him with the person that stole from me," Emilia continued as she sat down, "So I just wanted to personally thank you for that." She gave me a smile. I nodded in response. At least she had a reasonable explanation as to why she was here.

In the back I could hear Felt cough violently.

"Felt, did you have something to say?" I threw her under the bus as fast as I could.

"UHH-" She coughed once again as she shiftily looked between the maid and the confused half-elf. The white haired girl shot up in realization before pointing at the blonde.

"You're the thief!"

"Yeah," Felt grinned as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, shooting a sidelong glance at me. I shrugged back at her. Not my fault she couldn't keep her hands to herself.

"Look," the thief continued as both Emilia and Ram looked ready to spring to action, "I'm sorry, alright? I didn't realize that my client was the Bowel Hunter. If I did, there was no way I was going to accept it. Water under the bridge?"

I noticed immediately that she didn't apologize for the act of theft itself. She was apologizing because Granhiert was the client.

If I didn't know any better, I'd have guessed that Felt was a politician in the making. Thankfully, Emilia didn't seem to notice, as she stared thoughtfully for a moment. She nodded back at Felt as her smile returned.

"Alright, I accept. Water under the bridge."

With a grin, Felt raised her steaming cup of coffee, "Oi, be careful. That spills, you're cleaning it up." She ignored me as she motioned for Emilia to do the same. With a moment's hesitation, she lifted her own cup.

A soft clink as the two cups touched. Felt brought the cup to her mouth and took a drag.

"GAH! Too hot!"

…Sometimes, I forget that she's still a kid.

As Felt ran to get something to cool her tongue, I looked at Natsuki and Astrea, who had been watching the exchange with smiles on their faces.

"What are you two still doing here anyway?"

Natsuki pointed at me, "I," He started dramatically, "Have nothing else to do!"

A moment of silence.

"What a good-for-nothing layabout." It was Ram that broke it, "Emilia-sama, are we sure that this fish-eyed hooligan really did what he said he did?"

"Man, Ram-tan doesn't hold back, huh?" The single harshest glare I've seen from the maid smoldered onto Natsuki's frame.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. That."

"R-Right!" I'm pretty sure it was close to making Natsuki shit himself right there. Still, that glare was nothing compared to the smiles I got from Yukinoshita's sister. I'd rather the maid than be subjected to that witch any time soon.

"As for myself," Astrea watched the scene with a serene aura, "Since Subrau is staying at my home, I volunteered to guard and guide him around the capital him for the time being."

"Aw c'mon Rein, I can take care of myself!" Natsuki looked embarrassed, "Though, thanks again for helping me find Emilia-tan."

Ignoring the whisper of "-tan?" from the woman in question, I thought about Astrea's words for a moment. There was no way that someone as important would be allowed to guard someone like Natsuki. If anything, the Astreas had the capability of having some less important knight to guide the protagonist like this.

No, more than likely, Astrea wasn't here for Natsuki.

The more plausible reason was to keep an eye on the only candidate in the room. That Natsuki was looking for her gave him the excuse that he was guarding him as well. I looked towards the maid, and she was side-eyeing Astrea as well.

She likely came to the same conclusion.

Natsuki and Emilia were blissfully unaware, as the boy explained his new nickname for the elf.

The kid likely didn't know about who Emilia really was, as Astrea was bound by whatever oaths he had to not disclose that information to the public, but everyone already basically knew that Emilia was a candidate.

She herself didn't have that excuse. Unless she had the best poker face I've seen, then she was the most naive person I'd seen so far. Especially for someone who could be the leader of an entire country.

I could use this.

"You said that you worked for Margrave Mathers?" I jumped in the conversation as it winded down. Emilia blinked.

"Ah, well Roswaal is sponsoring me, so you could say that he's working with me?" I ignored that she shouldn't have said any of that in the first place as I nodded.

"Then, could you as thanks for my help, get me access to his library for a while?"

"No." It wasn't Emilia that answered, but Ram. She stared at me with a scowl on her face, "There is no way that Roswaal-sama would allow a cretin such as yourself access to the manor's facilities." She answered in such a manner-of-fact tone that probably would have convinced anyone else.

I was not anyone else.

"That's up to for the Margrave to decide, isn't it?" I continued to stare at Emilia. Natsuki looked between me and her with a frown on his face.

"I suppose," she started, "That I could bring it up when we head back to the manor…" She perked up as an idea, "Oh, why don't you come with us when we leave? I'm sure Roswaal would be glad to get a blacksmith on our side."

That was even better than I expected, honestly. That naivety would get her killed someday, but right now, I'm gonna milk it for all I can.

"Emilia-sama, I-"

"Alright, you have a deal."

"Wait, no fair!" Natsuki bolted to his feet, "I helped too ya know!" He pouted at Emilia as she stifled a laugh.

"Of course, I couldn't forget about you, Subaru!" She smiled at Natsuki, who overdramatically gripped his heart, "I was going to invite you over anyway!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, I mean," Her smile became slightly less so, "If you wanted to come over, that is?"

"Of course I'll come over!" Natsuki declared triumphantly. He glared at me, a certain competitiveness in his eyes.

Oh great.

Now I didn't have to just deal with murderers and assassins, but also a jealous NEET.

"I'm back with booze!" Rom entered my shop, holding a keg in each arm.

"Give me that." I walked towards one of them and poured some of it in my coffee.

If I'm going to deal with this, at least let me be drunk for it.

A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.

Thanks to my newest patron: Jason.

And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, and brutalcrab. Y'all better have eaten that cookie already.